Robert Krengel is Belgian, currently living in Portugal, with an academic background in economics, political science, and graduate studies in public policy. He worked at the European Commission for three decades, mostly in external relations. Robert helped negotiate association agreements in research and innovation between the EU and several countries, such as Switzerland, Turkey, and Israel.
He was posted to Israel (2007–2011) with a mandate to promote regional cooperation in research, innovation, energy, and the environment. He then managed the department in charge of the EU’s security missions and Special Representatives worldwide, before being posted to Lebanon (2017–2022) to head the regional team of the EU’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments for the Middle East and North Africa. Reporting to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, F. Mogherini, Robert managed the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments in support of EU diplomacy through programmes implemented in more than thirty countries by a staff of over 250.
Robert has extensive experience with complex policy issues in external relations, crisis management, conflict stabilization, and peace building. He is a member of the board of HIAS Europe, a refugee organization based in Belgium, participates in the Policy Practitioners’ Group of the Public Policy Institute at NOVA University in Lisbon, and gives career coaching to Master’s students of his alma mater, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Robert is a member of the Regional Vision Team of MENA 2050, an organization fostering cooperation and integration in the MENA region. A trilingual native (French, English, and Dutch), Robert studied Arabic and Hebrew, as well as German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.
